Player Level: Beginner

It is hard to find anyone who plays poker, whether professionally or as an amateur, who hasn’t heard the name Daniel Cates. Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates, is one of the rare poker players who came up through the online poker ranks and was able to conquer the live tournament circuit as well.

With over $3 million in live tournament winnings and over $10 million online, Cates is truly one of poker’s elite. One might think his nickname came from the online world, but actually it came while playing live games. He had long hair and admitted to being pretty hairy with a resemblance to Tarzan. The other players started to call him Jungleman, and it sort of stuck.

The odds of drawing a royal flush are 30,939 to 1. The chances of pulling 20 out of 20 on an 80-ball Keno are about 3.5 quintillion to 1. Hitting a single number on roulette carries a probability of 35 to 1 against. Gamblers love to know the odds. It is the intriguing part of the strategy. Even when looking at the business of gambling, we all become Jimmy the Greek and look at the spread.

Martin Jacobson went into the final table of the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event with the second shortest stack of the final nine players. He also went into that final table as the only player to have more than $1 million in WSOP tournament winnings. While coming close to a title a few times, he was never able to put that gold bracelet on his wrist until last year when he claimed the most coveted prize in poker.

It’s actually not that easy to get banned from casinos. For us common folk, it usually takes something drastic. It should even more difficult for a celebrity to get banned from a casino but it doesn’t seem like that’s the exactly case. Improper actions can be covered up and paid for with publicity earned by simply having said celebrity on the property.

With that in mind, a celebrity has to do something pretty outlandish to be banned from a casino. Let’s take a look how these five celebrities went from being VIP to 86ed.

One of the most significant changes that poker has experienced in the past 15 years is the growth of the celebrity culture that surrounds its most successful players. Poker used to be a solitary activity and, like most forms of gambling, it was sometimes frowned upon as it was misunderstood as a practice that always lead to vice (of course it can be risky to play too much or for the wrong reasons, but safe gambling fun is great!). However, the past two decades have lead to the cultural normalization of poker as an acceptable and fun form of entertainment.

Poker is reported in sports channels like ESPN and, like any sport, it has its own catalog of celebrities, rags-to-riches stories, come-from-behind victories, paraphernalia and legendary rivalries. Social media platforms have recently been used by both gamblers and companies as promotional tools. Through sites like Facebook and Twitter we get to know celebrity poker players more intimately.

When in comes to poker, one of the most interesting social media sites is Instagram. This website (which was bought by Facebook for $1 billion a couple of years ago) allows users to construct a visual diary of their everyday. Elite poker players are constantly on the road participating in high-stakes tournaments, in promotional tours or just enjoying la dolce vita that their occupation can bring them. These moments are captured through their smartphones and uploaded to Instagram so poker enthusiasts can maybe aspire to be like them.

Here’s some cool Instagram accounts that you might want to follow as a poker fan:

Whether you like placing bets for fun or do so professionally, everyone’s got a little gamble in them. Gambling itself is rich with a full lexicon of words that it pays to understand before you start making your wagers. Here, then, is a rundown of 21 of the more common terms used in all forms of gambling. Why 21? No particular reason other than that being the minimum age to gamble in Las Vegas—and we all know there’s nothing like gambling in Vegas!

Sports betting offers some of the biggest payouts you can make in a casino. Sports wagering is also one of the parts of a casino where the bettor can make money. The casino always has a small house advantage but with enough research and smart betting strategy, it’s possible for sports bettors to turn a profit. Today about 1% of all sports bettors are professionals. That’s a greater percentage than you’ll find for other casino game. Before getting down like a professional sports bettor, it’s important to know some basics.

Great poker players are not born with winning poker skills and probably don’t have a burning desire to play ‘No Limit Hold ’em’ by the age of five. In fact, many of the top poker players in the world had chosen very different paths for their lives when they developed an interest in poker.

Gambling is pretty much all drama and suspense, so it’s obvious that films about poker, blackjack and casino life in general would capture the high-intensity and unpredictability of games of chance. This year will see the release of The Gambler, an adaptation of the classic 1974 movie starring James Caan. The trailer looks amazing with the promise of gambling action.

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